Parliament has read the Anti-LGBTQ bill for the second time but its passage may not see the light of day, at least today.
This is despite the support from some Christian and Muslim religious leaders who flooded the public gallery to climax months of support for the legislation.
They were hoping to see substantive progress after the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament recommended that the House pass the controversial Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021.
The proposed legislation seeks to criminalize LGBTQ+ activities and prohibit the promotion or advocacy of same.
On the floor, Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson says the bill must be taken through all the processes today and accordingly.
However, the speaker is not convinced that the law will be passed today.
He did not state the exact reasons but explained that he will make it public in the course of the day’s business.
Subsequently, the motion for the second reading was moved by one of its sponsors, Ho West MP Emmanuel Bedzrah.
Mr Bedzrah was seconded by another co-Sponsor Deputy Education Minister, Rev John Ntim-Fordjour.
Chairman of the Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi read out the details of the report to the House.
He read the 18-page document which had earlier been subjected to the amendments proffered by the Committee.
The controversial bill has been hit with a number of legal actions with the latest being suit announced yesterday to prevent its passage.
The Speaker suspended proceedings for about 10 minutes after which the debate started.